Long live the memory of Land Day, a day of struggle to defend our land, dignity and freedom

On March 30, 2016, we will mark the 40th anniversary of the eternal Land Day. On this great day in our history, March 30, 1976, the Palestinian Arab masses in the Negev, the Galilee, the Triangle and the Coastal Plains announced a general strike and confronted the policies of land confiscation, Judaization and ethnic cleansing. On that day the people of Palestine – elderly and children, women and men – showed their willpower, this popular force which always causes the heavily armed oppressive forces of colonialism to tremble. With our resolve we challenged the Zionist regime’s army and police and sacrificed on the altar of freedom six martyrs and hundreds of wounded and detainees.

We commemorate Land Day as a heroic day that threw revolutionary light on the Palestinian national liberation struggle against Zionist colonialism. It thwarted the colonial regime’s divide and rule schemes by uniting the Palestinian land from the river to the sea and bringing together the Palestinian people in the homeland and exile. On the conceptual level, while Israel aspired to weaken our national identity and lock us in the cage of a “minority” begging for symbolic rights in the framework of the Jewish state, Land Day proved the unity of all the Palestinian people. On a practical level, while Israel aimed to destroy our unity in struggle, Land Day became a day of open rejection and confrontation with the Zionist regime in all of Palestine.

Land Day came, in 1976, based on the advancement of the Palestinian revolution in Lebanon and the escalation of the popular struggle against the occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alongside the armed struggle. With the general strike and mass uprising in the “internal”, all the Palestinian land was united under the banners of the struggle for freedom for the first time since the 1948 Nakba.

Our masses “inside” continued steadily, since that day, deepening their awareness of the unity of our national cause and regaining their role as active participants in the liberation struggle waged by our people since the start of Zionist settlement. They continued to express their resistance to Zionist aggression against our people, wherever it happened, and cemented Palestinian unity in struggle in every watershed event. They came out in mass in 1982 to protest the aggression against our people in the Diaspora in Lebanon and the massacres of Sabra and Shatila; they striked on “Palestine Day” to support the Palestinian Intifada in 1987; they striked for ten days at the beginning of the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Intifada of 2000, culminating with the fall of the 13 martyrs of the “October Uprising”; they confronted the Zionist campaigns of massacres: the invasion of the West Bank (2002) and the continued aggression campaigns against the besieged Gaza Strip.

On another advanced front of the struggle, the front of the Palestinian prisoners, our “internal” Palestinian masses constitute a militant torch in support of prisoners’ brave struggle for freedom. We witness the demonstrations supporting the general strikes of the prisoners, as well as support of prisoners on hunger strike, well remembered among them Samer Issawi, Khader Adnan, Mohammed Allan and Mohammed Al-Qiq, and all the heroes of the battle of legendary steadfastness in the dungeons of the Israeli occupation. The unity of the prisoners’ movement shows, on a small scale, a model of the unity of our people, which unite in struggle in spite of all the divisions forced upon us by ethnic cleansing and occupation.

We commemorate today the fortieth anniversary of Land Day as our people are waging the third Intifada in defense of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa against Zionist aggression and to protect Arab land and homes in all parts of Palestine against settlements, demolition and confiscation, from Al-‘Araqeeb and Ramiya to Um Al-Hiran, Susya and the villages around Al-Khalil, Al-Jiftlik and Al-Quds.

The Palestinian people became a symbol of revolutionary struggle for freedom in the eyes of the people all over the world. We witness the BDS movement growing stronger and wider across the globe, shaking the pretension of the Zionist entity to be a legitimate state in the international arena.

Our traditional leadership moved away from the aspirations of our people and from the line drawn with the blood of the martyrs of our people’s united struggle to defend our existence, in the Diaspora and in the Homeland, symbolized by the heroic Land Day. This leadership is still begging for crumbs from the occupation’s table, trying to negotiate liquidationist solutions. The role of our Youth movements and People’s Committees, which are leading the fight on the ground, lies in restoring the demand for liberation and the faith in the path of the revolution. We must resume the move towards the goal of Palestinian liberation, under a program that will unify the Palestinian people wherever they are.

Just as I write these lines, on the evening of October 9, 2015, the news keep coming about new clashes with the Israeli Occupation police flaring up in more and more towns, from Rahat in the Naqab desert in the South, through Taibeh, Ar’ara and Um-Al-Fahm in “the triangle” and till Nazareth, Kfar-Kana, Arabeh, Sakhnin and Majd-Al-Kurum in the Galilee. The picture above is from the entrance to Arabeh.

This wave of popular resistance inside the 1948 occupied territories shows again that Palestinians here are an integral part of the Palestinian people and the liberation struggle against Israeli Apartheid. You can easily spend all the day just following the news, and you still won’t see it all. The most dramatic views came today from Gaza, where Israeli soldiers performed a cowardly massacre, shooting in cold blood at unarmed demonstrators on the other side of the fence. They killed 6 people and wounded many others. In Al-Khalil there was another Palestinian martyr, and many were wounded in confrontations between demonstrators and the occupation army all over the West Bank.

One view that was seen again and again by most people here today is the cold blood shooting of a Palestinian woman, Israa Abed, a 29 old mother, by Israeli racist police officers and soldiers in the central station in the Jewish town of Afula. Israa learns for her master degree in genetic engineering in the Technion and was on her way back home when she was spotted as “a danger” by Israeli racist police, probably because of her traditional Islamic dress. In the video you can see clearly that she posed no danger to anybody and was pleading for her life while she was surrounded by soldiers and policemen brandishing their weapons at her. You can also hear clearly some of the Jewish passers-by pleading the soldiers to shoot her – until they finally did just that. Fortunately she didn’t die, only was badly wounded… So it is the hunting-season and every Arab person is now a target in Israel’s streets.

How this wave of confrontation begun?

As became routine in almost every Jewish Holidays season, the Israeli provocations started in Rosh Hashana (September 14) and concentrated on the Al-Aqsa mosque, which the religious messianic Zionists still wish to destroy in order to build their “third temple” on its place on what they call “Temple Mount”. The right wing parties in the Israeli government compete between themselves in extremist declarations and provocations on the ground. And what is supposed to be “Left” or “Centrist” Zionist opposition only tries to be “stronger on security” than the government – attacking it from the right for not being harsh enough against the Palestinians.

The Israeli police and courts, just like the army, are not even pretending to keep “law and order” – but they are the vanguard of the colonialist policy of oppressing the Arab Palestinian population. Just as the government was calling for ever harsher punishment against Arab stone-throwing youth, even shooting at them and killing them at the spot, the minister of defense, Ya’alon, boasted that his people know who were the Zionists attackers that burned alive the Dawabsha family in Duma – but they were not even interrogated! The army, the police and the courts defend Extremist settlers as they rob Palestinian private land and burn olive trees. Israel’s “High Court”, just like the Knesset, is now packed with ideological settlers that choose to live in illegal settlements at the vanguard of Zionist ethnic cleansing. Just in the middle of the latest holidays agitation campaign the government announced the appointment of another messianic settler (previously the vice-head of the secretive security services – “Shabak”) to head the police.

All these Zionists provocations push the Palestinian youth to try to resists the occupation – and as peaceful popular resistance is confronted with deadly oppression some prefer not to stay just victims but try to hurt their oppressors by any means.

Police at the entrance of Tamra – October 8, 2015

The Youth movements initiating the Nazareth demonstration

In the 1948 occupied territories there was little response until this week. Then some small demonstrations started in solidarity with Al-Quds in many towns. Herak Haifa coordinated a joint demonstration with local Arab parties for Monday, October 5. It started as a vigil and spontaneously developed into a small marching demonstration – but the police didn’t try to stop it. On the next day in Yaffa the police attacked a licensed demonstration organized by the Islamic movement – what caused many more local Palestinians to join a prolonged confrontation with stones and tear gas.

The youth movements, under the name of “Al-Herak Al-Shababi”, called for a bigger “National Demonstration” in Nazareth on Thursday, October 8. It had a wide echo in the youth activists’ circles, and buses were organized from many locations. It was another example to the leading role of the youth “Herakat” in the mass struggle, which appeared initially in the struggle against the Prawer plan (for ethnic cleansing in the Naqab) and was repeated later in the solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners and the protests against the massacres of Gaza’s people in summer 2014.

This time the police decided to be proactive and not let the demonstrators even gather in Nazareth. On Wednesday they started to arrest the “suspected” organizers, mostly those whose names appeared on the invitation as responsible for transport in different regions. On Thursday morning the Nazareth court extended the detention of most of the organizers until next Sunday.

Most buses were stopped on their way, before they could reach Nazareth, and order to turn back. Some of the demonstrators decided not to go home and gathered instead for two smaller spontaneous demonstrations, in the entrance of Um Al-Fahm in the Triangle and Tamra in the Galilee.

The demonstration in Nazareth happened anyway, with local people and many others that came from all over the country in private cars, not detected by the police. It was attacked by the police, prolonged clashes erupted in different regions of Nazareth and about 20 people were arrested.

Spontaneous Demonstration in Tamra

Tamra – before the police attacked it was pretty quiet

While on our way from Haifa to Nazareth, we heard that the Haifa bus was turned back and decided to follow it to Tamra. 3 buses full of demonstrators, most of them young, arrived at the entrance of this town of 30,000 people in the Western Galilee. As we arrived there, there was no presence of the police which apparently didn’t expect the demonstration. Some of the youth covered their heads and everybody was chanting slogans. When the traffic lights stopped the cars on the two lanes of “70 north” – many of the demonstrators stood on the crosswalk and simply stayed there. It was easy to stop the traffic and cause a long traffic jam… but most people stuck in it were just residents of neighboring Arab towns coming back from work – so there was no enmity between the drivers and the demonstrators and they were letting off some traffic from time to time – just waiting for the police to come.

A small police force started to gather on the other side of the “70”. As they felt strong enough they started to throw shock grenades without any warning. At first everybody run-away… then started to come back. The police started to throw tear gas and some demonstrators threw stones at them…

For the next few hours the “battle” continued along the main street of Tamra, in some distance from the main street that was occupied by the police. As you can imagine, the main street of this lively crowded town has shops almost everywhere on both sides. Some of the shop keepers were hostile to the demonstration, fearing for their belongings, but many were sympathetic. In the beginning, still near the main street, the bravest youth were running toward the police, throwing some stones and running back.

Later, as the police gathered more force, there were mostly revenge attacks by the police, not only against the demonstrators but against the people of Tamra in general. I’ve seen one police force marching into the town without being provoked, throwing tear gas around and going back. Later they brought in the “Skunk” which simply went up the main street throwing its stink around in great quantities on the street itself, at people that stood on the sides of the street and into nearby shops, including the “Tamra Mall”. The material damage to some shops may be devastating as stinking merchandise may lose all their value.

The Skunk takes revenge from the people of Tamra

Later on, as there were almost no demonstrators left, the police felt strong enough for an all-out revenge attack, coming back with a big police force and the Skunk together, spreading more stinking water and arresting youth that were unlucky enough to stay by the side of the street or not to run away fast enough.

Creative oppression

At my age you can think you’ve already seen it all – but just as today’s youth are always inventing new forms of resistance – the oppressive apparatus is also surprising us with some creative ideas.

In Tamra the police took control of the 3 buses (holding their drivers) and intended to arrest the demonstrators as they will come back to their buses to go home. Fortunately none of the demonstrators showed up as they appear to have evaporated in Tamra. So the police arrested the three poor drivers and accused them of attacking policemen and taking part in a riot, even as they were arrested sitting quietly in their buses. They even were not ashamed to bring them to the Haifa court on Friday’s morning and ask for harsh conditions for their release. The court, unable to disappoint the police, agreed to some of these conditions, including imposing house detention on the three poor drivers until Monday, October 12.

On Friday morning, in Nazareth district court, there was appeal hearing against the detention of 4 of the supposed organizers of the Nazareth demo. As they were all arrested before the demonstration, it was hard to accuse them of the regular articles like attacking police or taking part in a riot. The police prosecutor found a new proof that they were conspiring for riot: He claimed that they advised the participants in the demonstration to bring onion with them. Their appeal was rejected and they will stay in detention at least until Sunday. If you can keep people in prison just for “conspiring to possess onions”, or “inciting to use onions” – what is the punishment for somebody like me that actually bought onions and used them?

It is common knowledge that the police are taught the art of “dry beating” – causing a lot of pain but not leaving clear marks to show in court. Well, today’s police apparently lost this fine art. 21 demonstrators who were arrested on Saturday in the “Day of Rage” demonstration in the German Colony in Haifa downtown were brought to the court yesterday (Sunday 1/12/2013) for remand. Many of them did not have to raise a shirt or roll up their pants’ sleeves to show the judge their bruises – signs of trauma and blood were easily seen on their faces.

Sabrin Diab, a young woman from Tamra in the Galilee, appeared at court with a broken arm fixed in plaster (in the picture, last on the left in the rear) – as a result of the beating she had taken at the time of her arrest. When the lawyers of some other detainees asked the police representative in court “Did he receive medical treatment?” the answer was uniform and laconic: “whoever asked for medical treatment received it.” One after the other the detainees stood up and testified about beatings and pains – and the refusal of the Haifa police and the guards at the Jalameh detention center (“Kishon”) to allow them to see a doctor or receive treatment.

Police Escalation – Also in Court

In the last days the Israeli media was full with incitement by the heads of the racist Zionist establishment against the demonstrators protesting the “Prawer Plan”. Netanyahu’s call to “prosecute them to the end” was not lost on the Haifa police. The police chose to request remand for 21 of the demonstrators that were detained in Haifa, two of them minors. When the hearing judge decided this morning to release the two minors and send them to house arrest, the police rushed to ask for a stay of execution and appealed.

The hearing on extending the detention of the 19 other detainees – four of them women – was conducted in 3 different sessions due to the difficulty to accommodate all the detainees in the courtroom. But the police in its remand request collected all the charges in one package against all of them. To raise the severity of the accusations they resorted to articles of the law that are rarely used in such cases. All 19 detainees were accused of “assaulting a police officer with firearms or cold weapons” and of “causing severe injury when the offender is carrying a weapon.”

Fortunately the enthusiasm and wild exaggeration did not serve the police well this time. The police representative tried to describe the situation as if the German Colony’s streets were full of stones being thrown and told about many policemen that were injured and needed treatment. When asked to provide details he could not name even one policeman who was injured and could not provide any medical certificates.

When the police prosecutor was requested to elaborate how were the “suspects” armed and asked whether any weapons were sized he claimed that they were armed with stones, which were naturally thrown and therefore not caught with the protesters. When asked what was the role of each of the suspects he responded only that “the evidence is before the court.” In some cases the judge volunteered to review the material and answered instead of the policeman – and in all those cases it appeared that the suspects were charged in their initial interrogation only with “assaulting police officers” and all the issue of stone-throwing (or any other “weapons”) was not even mentioned.

Beating in the Advanced Command Post

From what the detainees told in court we learned that they were beaten hardest after their violent arrest. The police established a forward command center in a municipal building on Radak Street near Carmel Boulevard (“Ben Gurion”). The cops were leading the detainees to this center where they could beat them freely away from the media and the public.

One detainee told how a policeman held him down by pressing his knee (the cop’s) on his neck while punching fists in his face. The signs of the knee and punches were easy to identify.

Alleged Ground for Remand

Cases where protesters are detained typically follow a fixed pattern: the cops complain that they were victims of assault and they are also the witnesses. This format has one advantage: because it is assumed that the detainees can’t influence the police witnesses, it is difficult to use the grounds of “fear of obstruction of justice” to justify prolonged detention. This time the police tried to justify a prolonged detention by claiming that they intend to interrogate many people who were present, not only police officers…

The police prosecutor, who recently enjoyed high unconditional confidence from the Haifa Court in various political detention cases, refused to answer most questions. He even refused to answer some question routinely repeated in remand hearings as “how many investigation acts the police intends to conduct?” (The only answer given to this question was “a lot”). When he was asked questions about various details in the case he often avoided any answer and kept himself busy with the mobile phone in his hand. At one point, he even ostentatiously turned his back to the lawyer who was questioning him. When that attorney protested he said: “I hear you this way just the same.”

The detainees complained that they were denied food and drink all the way at the Haifa police station, in prison and while in detention in court. One of the lawyers even asked whether starving the detainees is part of the many “investigation acts” taken by the police in this case.

The fight against the Prawer Plan continues in court

Many representatives of the media attended the court hearing. There is no doubt that the “Day of Rage” protest on Saturday brought a quantum leap in public awareness to the Prawer plan to dispossess the Arabs of the Naqab (Negev in Hebrew) and the resistance it evokes.

It is common practice that, while the detainees are brought into the court, reporters and photographers get a “time out” to take pictures and interview them. These are often difficult and embarrassing moments for detainees. This time the detainees entered holding their heads high and happy for the opportunity to speak out – obviously proud to take part in the just struggle against ethnic cleansing. They rushed to make statements to the media about the objectives of the struggle. Some of the detainees raised their hands with the victory sign upon entering the hall.

Many of the defense lawyers explained and stressed in court that this is a legitimate, just and even indispensable struggle of the Arab population against the injustice done by the state. Some lawyers even mentioned that they themselves participated in the demonstration.

Release, appeal and postponement

Meanwhile the appeal hearing about the release of the two minor detainees was held in the district court. Under pressure from the court, the parties agreed on postponing the release until 8 pm.

After long proceedings that filled most of the time from 9:30 am to 17:00 pm, the judge decided to release the rest of the detainees. The prosecution announced that it plans to appeal. Six detainees, including Sabrin Diab with the broken arm and lawyer Suhair Assad were released anyway. Release of the rest, two women and eleven men, was postponed until the appeal hearing on Monday.

* * *

Today (Monday, December 2) at 14:30 the Haifa District Court decided to dismiss the prosecution’s appeal and release all the detainees – some of them under house arrest.

On Wednesday, October 9, 2013, Israeli police came to search the house of the political activist Razi Nabulsi, a student and a worker aged 23, resident of Haifa. They confiscated a computer, cellphone, books and papers, and took Razi with them for questioning.

The next morning Razi was brought to the Haifa court and the police requested his remand on the grounds of “incitement”. Razi was represented by lawyer Aram Mahamid from the “Adalah” Human Rights center.

The materials that were submitted to the judge were, of course, “secret”. What we could understand from the answers of the police investigators to the questions of the defense lawyer in the court, was that the charges are based on statuses supposedly posted by Razi on Facebook and some leaflets that were distributed in the streets of Haifa. Razi was also accused of possessing books by the Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani. According to what the representative of the Haifa police said in the court, they received a special permission from “The State’s Attorney” to open an investigation against Razi on July 10. Only now, after three months of undercover investigation, they decided to make the investigation public, hence the search of Razi’s home and the detention of the “target”…

Excuses for detention

The lawyer protested the detention, based solely on open political statements and public activity, and called for Razi to be immediately released. The police themselves admitted that Razi is not suspected of any act of violence and also clarified that they do not suspect that any other person committed any offence following “incitement” by Razi.

However, the police claimed the “presumption of dangerousness” of the suspect. This dubious blanket term is widely used by the security services in Israeli courts to justify wholesale remand of “suspects” on any “security” issue, claiming that the very type of the accusation entitles this “dangerousness”. This allows automatic long detention, regardless of the degree of suspicion, the quality of the evidence or any specific circumstances of the detainee. It is not the first time that the police and courts are expanding this “presumption of dangerousness” from the realm of “security” investigations to the persecution against Palestinian political activists.

Razi’s detention was extended until Monday 14.10.2013.

For those not used to Israel’s legal procedures – it should be made clear that Razi is detained “for interrogation” and was not indicted of any offence. Israeli law allows such detention for interrogation to be extended for several weeks.

Secret Materials

On Friday 11/10 “Adalah” appealed the remand. The appeal was heard before the District Court in Haifa on the same day.

During the hearing, the police presented some Hebrew texts it claims were translation of statuses which Razi posted on his Facebook page in Arabic. The lawyer requested to see the original Arabic texts, because translations by the police are sometimes misguided, biased or might distort the author’s intention. The police refused to allow the lawyer to see the original Arabic texts that they claimed to have “translated” – claiming that they are secret investigative materials!

The court, functioning as a rubber stamp, again confirmed Razi’s extended detention based on secret material it could not read.

The creative art of police translation

The art of police translation specializes in distorting texts submitted to the court in order to convince the judge (who usually doesn’t understand Arabic) that the detainee is a very dangerous man…

Several years ago a group of protesters from the city of Allid (Lod) was accused of possessing sign that says “كل الكرامة والعزة لشهدائنا الأبرار” (All the honor and glory of our innocent martyrs). The police translated it to “כל הכבוד לעזה והמחבלים המתאבדים” (“All the honor to Gaza and the suicide terrorists”). The attorney of the detainees argued strongly against the false and misleading translation, which violates his client rights. The Judge (this time eager to make justice) ordered the police to bring professional translation by an academic expert of Arabic…

The protesters remained in jail for another week, until the authorized translation arrived…

Razi denied of books

To complete the picture of the police’s treatment of Razi, it is worth mentioning that the guards at Jelemeh (Kishon) detention center refused to enter any books for Razi. His family, aware of the police’s “sensitivities”, tried to bring some none political reading books to the jail… As said. The guards refuse to enter any books and by doing so prevented further danger to the Jewish “democratic” State.

On Wednesday October 16, after seven full days in detention, Razi was “released” to spend another five days under house arrest. More about the circumstances of his release and some “secrets” from his interrogation you may read in the following post (in Free Haifa Extra).

Long before the Great Syrian Revolution started on March 15, 2011, I hold a special admiration to the Syrian people. Much of it stemmed from close friendship with Syrian activists in the occupied Golan Heights, since their half-year general strike in 1982. In a more general perspective, Syria used to be the beating heart of the Arab national movement. In March 1920, when the “Syrian Congress” declared the first independent Arab state in modern history, “The Arab Kingdom of Syria”, representatives from Palestine took part under the name of “Southern Syria”.

Separated by the Zionist occupation of Palestine since 1948, we couldn’t have any direct connections with our sisters and brothers in Syria. But the Syrian patriotic culture, from Duraid Lahham’s satirical movies and Samieh Shkeir’s lyrics to “Bab Al-Harra” (the Neighborhood’s Gate) TV series, were everybody’s bread and butter. The commercial center of Hallisa neighborhood, where I live in Haifa, was named Bab Al-Harra in honor of the series.

At the beginning of 2012 we organized “Palestinians for the Syrian Revolution” which raised a progressive secular voice in support of the revolution. By the end of that year, Herak Haifa (Arabic) took part, with many other groups, in collecting material support to relieve the suffering of Syrian refugees in Jordan. It is symptomatic that even this wholly humanitarian effort aroused rouge responses from some local Shabiha (Arabic), as the supporters of the Assad regimes are named here after the Syrian thugs with the same name. On May 31, in the global day of solidarity with the Syrian revolution, Palestinian Youth held demonstrations in Bab Al-Amud (Damascus Gate) in Jerusalem, in Ramallah and Al-Khalil.

Yet as the revolution was transformed from an enthusiastic peaceful mass uprising to a prolonged civil war, there is a constant strain on the public support for the revolution. Any excess on the side of the revolution, and any compromise from its leadership, is looked upon with grave concern. Is toppling the regime worth all these efforts and sacrifices? How do we know that what will come after it will be any better? Unlike the Syrian people that have no choice but to fight on or put their lives in the hands of their torturers, we can simply stop watching the news and ignore the bloodshed.

Going to Paris

Any dictatorship creates communities of political refugees spread around the world. Any new wave of conflict and oppression throws away a new wave of refugees. Going to Paris is a special opportunity to hear the news from Syria from people that were there and took part in the struggle until the recent period. On June 27-29 I spent 3 days in Paris, hearing the story of the Syrian Revolution.

Paris is a very good place to talk about the revolution. It is a city that, till this day, celebrates its bloody revolution of 1789 – 1799. This revolution is remembered by Humanity as the turning point from Backwardness and the rule of hereditary monarchs and oligarchs to Enlightenment, Modernism, Republicanism and Democracy.

Being in Paris was also a good opportunity for quick review of French history. We were reminded that the revolution, after a prolonged bloody struggle, produced first (1804) the “republican” Emperor Napoleon and then military defeat and the return of reactionary kings (1814). Only after 81 years and three more popular revolutions (1830, 1848 and 1870) has the third French Republic really established itself. Still we all feel obliged to the tradition of the French Revolution.

This puts in perspective the great Arab Revolution – the Arab Spring – which is the spearhead of a new renaissance of Humanity that now spreads all over the globe. As this revolution develops without an agreed plan and with no clear leadership, it makes it all the more important that we discuss and learn and build our network of activists.

One question that I asked my Syrian friends was: “What is the best source to read news and analysis about the Syrian revolution?” They didn’t think that there is a good answer to this question.

In the next few days I will write some posts to summarize what I heard in Paris. It is not a systematic research, nor a wide range of views, neither a deep analysis. But it is a humble attempt to draw a live picture through the impressions of honest young (and old) people that risked their lives and freedom for the liberty of their people and their country.

If you have any suggestion about good sources to learn more about the Syrian Revolution – please leave the links in a comment to this post.

(The photo above was taken at the Paris demonstration in support of the Syrian Revolution on Saturday 29/6/2013. On the right you see the Kurdish flag raised alongside the flags of the Syrian Revolution. Beyond them on the tree to the left there is a Palestinian flag…)

It is a hot summer on Haifa’s sandy beaches. Unlike the birds that come in the autumn from cold Europe, summer is the visiting season for people. Until recently the visitors were coming almost only from the rich countries, but, as the third world is now rising to the center of the world stage, we have the chance to meet people from many other places. This week, for the first time, we had a visitor from Kurdistan, Ercan Ayboga (*). As we hold a special warm place in our hearts for the Kurdish people as sisters and brothers in struggle, it was a great opportunity to learn more about Kurdistan, its people and their struggle.

With short notice, Herak Haifa called for an open lecture in Haifa AlGhad club, on Monday 10/6/2013. As I was writing the invitation, I had a problem. Should I write that Ercan comes from “Turkish Kurdistan”? It smacks of ownership. I’m always annoyed when I’m introduced as “coming from Israel”. One important thing that I learned in this lecture is to call the part of Kurdistan that is colonialized by Turkey “Northern Kurdistan”, as “Eastern Kurdistan” is held by Iran, the South by Iraq and the West by Syria. I always prefer to look at things through the eyes and the language of the oppressed people, even though the language that connected us in the lecture was English.

The report below is based on Ercan’s lecture but doesn’t claim to reproduce his very words. I also made some quick research and tried to tell a consistent story as much as I could. I hope you will find it informative as well as inspiring.

History

Kurdistan and the Kurdish people have a long history. Much of it is characterize by the Kurds having some level of self rule (or rule by their local feudal lords) – but under the influence of more powerful regional powers. For a long period Kurdistan was in the borderlands between the Ottoman Empire and Iran. The Kurdish language is close to Persian but many Kurds were integrated in the Ottoman state to the level that when they felt pressed by emerging Turkish nationalism few of the Kurdish lords called for restoration of the Caliphate.

The beginning of the twentieth century, and especially the new division of the region after the First World War, saw the emergence of new states guided by the principle of Nationalism. The Kurdish national movement was late to come, and confronted the fate of Kurdistan divided between the neighbors.

The establishment of Turkey as a national state, in a region that was mosaic of different ethnicities, religions and nationalities, was especially cruel, forged by genocide and systematic ethnic cleansing. At first the Turkish leadership succeeded to mobilize some Kurdish support against the Christian Armenian and Greek population in the name of Islam, but soon the Kurds encountered the fire of Turkish nationalism turned against them.

Between 1920 and 1938 there were several Kurdish rebellions against the Ottomans and against Turkey. In one rebellion in 1925 we already hear the complaints about the wiping of the name Kurdistan from the maps, about oppression of the Kurdish language and about forced population transfer.

Between 1928 and 1931 an independent Kurdish “Republic of Ararat” existed until it was crashed by the Turkish army. But none of these rebellions succeeded to unite all the Kurds, or even all the Kurds under Turkey’s rule, in a single independence movement. Turkey had a clear military advantage and cruelly crushed each rebellion with severe consequences to the fighters, their political leaders and the civilian population.

In 1937 and 1938, in the oppression of the Dersim rebellion, (Dersim is an area in North West Kurdistan from where our guest Ercan came), about half the regions’ population was wiped out in massacres and almost all the rest was deported by force. Between 1925 and 1965 North Kurdistan under Turkey’s control was declared a military area and foreigners were banned from entering.

After 1938, as the independence movements were crashed, about a third of some 20 million Kurds in North Kurdistan immigrated (most of them since the sixties) to other areas in Turkey and many Kurds succumbed to forced Turkization.

The Modern Freedom Movement

The roots of the current Kurdish freedom movement are in the radicalization of students and other sectors of society in Turkey in the seventies of the previous century. Since then the most influential force in the Kurdish movement is the Kurdish Workers Party – known by its initials as PKK and officially founded in 1978 – and its leader Abdullah Ocalan. For this reason it is important to understand what is special about this organization.

In addition to its leftist ideology, Ercan mentioned two significant factors that played a role: The PKK cadres, though initially students, were drawn mostly from the poor classes and always remained committed to the defense of the poor peasants and workers; In 1980, when there was a military coup in Turkey and many of the activists had to go to exile, the PKK leadership preferred to gather its forces and set its main new bases in the Arab countries of Lebanon and Syria, not going to the comfort of Europe where other left organizations gradually lost their revolutionary perspective.

This helped to forge an alliance and common thinking with the Arab and Palestinian left, most significantly with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In many aspects the Kurdish movement followed the steps of the Palestinian National movement – the adoption of Marxism and the perspective of National liberation as part of a global movement for social liberation; The adoption of armed struggle as a central tactic which came as a response to the military coup and intense repression; Since the beginning of the 90’s there was a new turn toward mass struggle, which, according to Ercan, was influenced by the success of the first Palestinian Intifada.

The PKK was more successful from the Palestinian left in becoming the main force of the Kurdish national movement, maybe because the Kurdish cause seemed to be a lost case and there was less competition and outside meddling. Now the Kurdish national movement, with the PKK at its center, is a school of its own. It is building on the ground and developing theory for a progressive national movement that adjusts to changing circumstances and tries to get the best for its people.

Through 35 years of heroic struggle the Kurds paid a very high price. It is estimated that 3,500 villages and towns were destroyed and millions became refugees. Tens of thousands of martyrs paid with their lives. Today, according to Ercan’s estimation, there are about 10,000 Kurdish political prisoners out of a total of 12,000 political prisoners in Turkey.

In 1998, after pressure and threats of war from Turkey, Syria expelled Ocalan and there was no state that will give him official refuge. In an international man-hunt operation with the help of (or orchestrated by) the Israeli Mossad, Ocalan was arrested in Kenya on February 15, 1999, and handed over to Turkey. In spite of being sentenced to death (later substituted by imprisonment for life) and being held in harsh conditions, most of the time in isolation, he is still the main leader of the Kurdish freedom movement. On March 21, 2013, it was Öcalan which declared the new ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish state, in the framework of new negotiations for a peaceful solution that will protect the rights of the Kurdish people.

Popular Struggle and Popular Democracy

An important achievement of the Kurdish freedom movement is that it is not confined to one region, one organization or one sector of the population. Since the beginning of the nineties the armed struggle is only one tool for the building of an expanding popular base. It begun with mass funerals for martyred freedom fighters, continued with mass demonstrations and clashes with the repressive forces, went on to the organization of legal political parties, the participation in local government, declaration of cease fires and peace initiatives. The celebration of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, became a yearly major patriotic event with mass participation of hundreds of southlands and sometimes even millions.

One important aspect that distinguishes the PKK and the modern Kurdish freedom movement is the prominent role of women in all aspects of the struggle and on all levels. In a society that is mostly rural and conservative, Kurdish women fight side by side with their male comrades. It is estimated that women are around 30% of the PKK fighters. A similar proportion of women may also be found in the PKK’s leading bodies and in other parties and mass organizations. In 1994, Leyla Zana, the first Kurdish member of the Turkish parliament was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of treason and terrorism after she dared to speak the Kurdish language in parliament.

Popular support and the possibility to legally organize opened new opportunities and fields of action in front of the freedom movement. Ercan expanded his explanation about the establishment of elected local authorities as a field where local people can organize and the movement can prove that it can serve the masses in a good way and to good purpose. It also exposes the movement to the danger of corruption by some of its own local leaders – and tests its ability to fight this corruption. Here the importance of the socially progressive character of the movement and the commitment to the interests of the poor people is essential for success.

He talked about the concept of popular democracy that the movement tries to promote. Elected councils start at grassroots levels. They include direct representatives of the people as well as political parties and civil society. Here again the role of women is essential. The direct involvement of the popular masses in the councils keeps them at tune with the political organizations and keeps the organizations in full awareness of the needs and sentiments of the people. All this is used to look for practical solutions to the issues of economic development, defense of democratic rights, cultural identity and social justice.

With all these achievements, the parties that are identified with the liberation movement receive just about half the popular vote in elections in North Kurdistan. There are still conflicting local identities and interests and scars from the long years of repression and struggle. Some 40% of the Kurdish vote goes to AK, the Islamic party that governs Turkey over the last eleven years. And, as mentioned before, almost half of the Kurds of northern Kurdistan now leave in other regions of Turkey. These facts are taken into account by the freedom movement when it comes to propose a political solution.

New Political Perspective

The PKK went through ideological struggle, trying to adjust its view of the world, its political platform and praxis to the changing world map as well as to local conditions. An attempt to change the orientation of the movement to give up socialism and turn toward the US was rejected. But significant adjustments were made.

Now the main goal of the movement is not separation of North Kurdistan from Turkey but participation in the design of a new decentralized democracy. It could be good for the Kurds, let them control their own affairs, but also for the rest of the people in Turkey.

Around this line the Kurdish parties now try to build new alliances with different progressive and democratic movements and parties in Turkey. For this reason Kurdish activists also participated in the new popular protest movement that was ignited in Istanbul and spread all over Turkey. The connection to the mass movement was all important to them, in spite of the participation of some extreme nationalist and fascists in the movement and the call by some elements for restoration of military rule.

The movement in North Kurdistan has significant influence over the Kurdish people in other regions. In Syria the main Kurdish party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is associated with the PKK. They regard themselves as part of the Syrian revolution, even though they don’t belong to any of the current leadership coalitions of the Syrian opposition. In South Kurdistan traditional leaderships still play a major role and progressive forces are still small – but in East Kurdistan there are stronger protest movements, based on the youth, which are more radical and democratic.

A similar concept of democratization and de-centralization, people’s power from bottom-up, is also promoted for the larger region. It was conceived as a framework for the solution not only of the Kurdish question but of the needs to get rid of tyranny and find a way for all the diverse religions, national and ethnic groups to live together.

As part of this concept, the Kurdish movement initiated the Mesopotamia Social Forum. They are interested to promote discussion and build cooperation with other movements in the region. Maybe this is what brought Ercan to far-away Haifa.

* * *

(*) Ercan Ayboga (pronounced almost Erjan) is a hydraulic engineer who has lived in Germany and in North-Kurdistan; the latter is his home country. He coordinates on international level the campaign against the destructive Ilisu Dam on the Tigris and is part of the ecologic movement in Kurdistan. Furthermore he is engaged in the Mesopotamian Social Forum (MSF) which brought together in 2009 and 2011 parts of the civil Kurdish and Middle East society. He writes regularly for different Turkish, Kurdish and German newspapers and journals on ecological and political issues.

Samer Issawi is on hunger strike since 1/8/2012. The last message that he sent from his prison was that he will continue his hunger strike until he will be released from his unjust imprisonment or die as a martyr.

Samer is a Palestinian from Issawiya in Al Quds (Jerusalem). He happened to be a youth, twenty years old, when the Palestinian people begun their second Intifada in September 2000 in a desperate attempt to get rid of the occupation. Samer joined the resistance and in April 2004 was arrested, accused of armed struggle and sentenced to 30 years in prison. You can learn from this that even the occupation forces didn’t accuse Samer of killing anybody, as if this was the charge he would be sentenced to life in prison…

Samer was released from prison in the prisoners’ exchange of October 2011 (in which Israel secured the release of its soldier Gilad Shalit). He planned to get married and open his own small business. But the Occupation didn’t let him more that a few months to enjoy his new freedom. On July 7, 2012, he was arrested in an army road block in Jerusalem, accused of infringement of his conditions of release by going to Ramallah. For 28 days he was under intense interrogation by the Israeli Shabak, prevented for meeting a lawyer, isolated from the world, deprived of sleep and tortured. Yet no new charges against him “surfaced”.

Military injustice

There are thousands of Palestinians political prisoners and resistance fighters in Israeli prisons. Hundreds of them are political activists that are held under administrative detention without any formal accusation and without even the farce of a military court. Thousands are imprisoned for taking part in the popular resistance – demonstrating against the robbery of their land and the demolition of their houses. Many are imprisoned for resisting the occupation – as Israeli military and civilian law criminalize any act of resistance and doesn’t recognize the legitimate right of occupied people to resist the occupation.

Yet, what provokes prolonged hunger strikes like Samer’s, are extremely blatant cases of injustice that stand out from the daily routine of injustice that we came to take for granted. One example of such blatant injustice is the “Shalit Committee” in the “Ofer” military court, which without any resemblance of due process decided that Samer should be returned to prison to serve more that 20 years still left from his initial sentence. There were no formal accusations and no way in which Samer could defend himself. The only thing that we know is that he is accused of going to Ramallah…

The family

In a report in Arabic about Samer’s case in Al-Dameer’s site, which I failed to find in English, they describe a family with six brothers and two sisters. Samer’s big brother Fadi was killed by the Israeli army in 1994 when soldiers went on a shooting spree after the massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil. Another brother, Midhat, spent 19 years in the occupation prisons. His sister is a lawyer, Shirin Issawi, but she also spent a year in prison in 2010.

Yesterday, while in Issawiya, we visited the solidarity tent and the family’s home, and met Samer’s mother, father, sister Shirin and some of his brothers. They are all mobilized for the struggle to save Samer’s life and freedom. Samer’s father wanted us to carry a message to the world that freedom for Samer will be an important message of hope for freedom and peace for everybody.

His mother told us of the family’s suffering. When Samer was out of prison in 2011 it was the first time that she had all her sons and daughters around her at the same time. She told the gathering of young activists in the house that all her hopes to see Samer alive again are now in their hands. She said she won’t thank them as they only do their duty in the struggle – but then Samer’s father thanked everybody in the name of the family. He said Samer’s struggle is an important step to defend all the people that were released in the prisoners’ exchange against Israeli violations of the agreement.

Issawiya’s March

On Saturday 2/2/2013, the local youth organization “revolt on any government” invited us to take part in solidarity activity with Samer in Issawiya. Herak Haifa issued a special call to join the Issawiya action. Some twenty activists from all around Palestine joined two hundred local youth for a march from the top of the hill to the mosque’s yard where the protest tent stands. Then we marched to Samer’s house farther down the valley. There were some Palestinian flags, many posters of Samer and flags of all the Palestinian different resistance movements. The main slogan was “Al-Mawt Wa-La Al-Mazaleh” – “Death and not Humiliation”. It is an Arab Spring slogan from Syria, like the youth organization that took the initiative. Very few old people except for the family took part.

The youth that organized the event said it was very successful. The told us about a long siege of Issawiya by occupation forces that prevented anybody from coming to express solidarity with the protest tent and the family. They told about repeated incursion by the army to the village – destroying the protest tent and arresting local activists. So our repeated open presence in the streets sent an important message.

Act Now!

Your actions in solidarity with the striking prisoners have won the release of Khader Adnan, Hana Shalabi, Mahmoud Sarsak and other prisoners. You can also save the life of Samer Issawi and make an important contribution in the struggle against the occupation and for freedom, justice and peace.

Israel has no special reason to arrest him, to let him die. They do it only because they can, because the life and liberty of the Palestinians have no value in their racist blind eyes. Our struggle may make the difference – raise the awareness of the world’s public opinion and make Israel pay a price for stamping on other peoples’ rights.

Historian Ilan Pappe is in Palestine, in homeland visit. On Thursday, 3.1.2013, he was a guest of “Herak Haifa” (حراك حيفا – Haifa Action) for a lecture on “The Arab Spring storm – how does it affect the opportunities for solving the Palestinian problem?”

“Haifa AlGhad” Club in Wadi Nisnas was crowded with activists who came to hear the lecture. Ilan Pappe sat on the couch in an environment where he is not “controversial historian” but a wanted partner. You might say he was “playing on home ground”. Everyone wanted to hear his insights as historian about the exciting events storming our region.

Pappe explained that in historical perspective the last two years are just a moment in time. Historians “guess what happened in the past” and certainly have no tools to predict the future. So what we can do is look at processes that have already begun and try to understand the nature of the new era we are entering.

He stressed that the Arab Spring is not a series of separate events in each country, but a comprehensive process of change that only started and can lead to profound changes in other countries in the region. Beyond that, the Arab Spring is part of a process of change in the global political map, as the “Western” hegemony of Europe and the United States is in crisis. This crisis includes an internal crisis that began with the financial crisis in 2008, during which it became clear to everybody that the heads of the capitalist system were cheating the public, causing deep damage to the economy and society as a whole, and no one is held accountable. Internationally China, India and other countries emerge as a central economic force, which can also affect the geopolitical balance of power. In this situation appears the Arab Spring, based on the direct action of the masses, with “Tahrir Square” a live symbol, as an example that a wide public would like to follow in Europe and all over the world.

Most of the lecture handled the consequences of the Arab Spring on the international scene and the position of Israel. It was evident that Ilan Pappe lives between different worlds, familiar with the ruling elites in Europe as well as left-wing circles. He talks intimately about the emotional aspects that accompany the Crisis of Zionism in the Jewish community and brings new winds from Egypt, where he recently attended a conference to discuss the Arab Spring with old friends from the left and new friends from the Islamic movements. Hovering between these worlds he outlines to the audience the contemporary political scene, seen from above but never remotely, with “Close-Up” on details from every arena and arena.

Changes in the world order

Pappe has characterized the Western hegemony as a world order “in which 10% use 40% of the world’s resources”. Today it is increasingly difficult to maintain this order. There is a danger of excessive use of force in an attempt to stop the erosion of the hegemony of the West, as was the case, for example, in the war in Iraq.

However, the main currently visible trend is the deep internal political crisis in Europe and the United States which accompanies the economic crisis and the erosion of global hegemony. Lack of confidence in the existing political system leads to the formation of a new kind of popular movements. There is a general desire for democratization, to protect the rights of those who were trampled all the time by the system. This is the “Zeitgeist” and it affects every arena and arena.

The new democratic spirit is also affected by technological changes and new tools that enable a wide public to take an active role in the dissemination of information and discussion about it. Today no regime can effectively block discussion. Young people take an important active role in these changes. The younger generation in China is not much different culturally from their brothers in the West. The democratic trends are not restricted only the West, but they can be seen everywhere, including Burma and North Korea.

The Arab Spring, as a democratization movement led by young people and mobilizing the power of a broad popular movement, constitutes an advanced part of this “Zeitgeist” of democratization and a role model for others.

Israel stands out in the world as a negative example of a state and a society which develop in a clear anti-democratic direction.

Undermining Israel’s status

For a long time Israel succeeded to maneuver itself to hold a major role in the global and regional agenda. After the Second World War the West wanted to restore West Germany to “the family of nations” as a cornerstone to its geopolitical alignment. Ben Gurion knew how to make the most financially and maximize Israel’s influence by providing forgiveness to “The Other Germany” in the name of the ultimate victims.

Later Israel was incorporated as a Western fortified outpost in the Cold War. At the end of the Cold War and the declaration of the “end of history”, Israel marketed itself as a modern open society which developed from a third world country to be part of the first. When the Western agenda abandoned “the end of history” and moved to “the war on terror” and the fight against Islam, it enabled Israel’s standing to reach its peak when it presented itself to the West as the most experienced expert on these subjects.

Now the Arab Spring presents a new model of democracy in the Middle East and Israel is exposed more and more as undemocratic. For the first time we see that Israel doesn’t know what to say and can’t adapt to the new era. Israel even fails to play the role of “experts of Arab affairs” for the West – a role based on the Orientalist approach – at this time. New realities in the Arab countries are imposing themselves on the political arena and Western elites get accustomed to working with the new authorities in Arab countries where Israel has no role.

Israel is trying to promote its own picture of the world. They claim that “the Arab spring turned to Islamic winter”. But even according to Israel’s favored scenario, if the West will accept their perspective, adopt a hostile approach toward the new Arab authorities and oppose democratic change in the region – Israel may find itself as a burden on the West and not as an asset that strengthens its control. In Egypt, for example, there is a deep disagreement between the Muslim Brotherhood and the secular opposition, but opposition to Israel and support of the Palestinians are a unifying cause.

Clearly, in a Middle East moving toward democracy, as part of a world where many are fighting for more democracy, when the Palestinian flag is used by everybody as a symbol of the struggle for freedom, Israel finds itself against the stream of history.

These changes will not translate immediately into an end to support for Israel. In the Military sphere and the sphere of interests Israel still has a lot of support – here values​don’t play any role. There are also the Jewish lobby and buying the support of local politicians with money – for example by donations to parties. However, power and corruption alone can’t maintain a political project over time. Support for Israel in the past was based on moral arguments and values, on supportive public opinion – for us it may all seem faked but it was a strong factor. Today all that is changing.

In the past, young Zionist Jews could be leading progressive students’ movements around the world. In today’s campuses they are busy defending Israel as an apartheid regime. For them it is a frustrating and grinding role.

In Israel today there is a majority which openly says “We want a racist Jewish state.” For those who want to continue to live by their lies and claim to be liberal and to protect Israel from a position of justice – the lie is getting harder and ever more tiring.

No wonder Israel today defines its “de legitimization” as a strategic threat. Previously it treated the issue through “Hasbara” (propaganda), diplomacy and foreign relations. Today it is handled also by its security apparatus.

The emerging powers, such as India and China, even if basically their policies will not be more moral, are not committed to Israel as much as the West. They don’t feel guilt for the Holocaust and Christian messianism is not a political factor there. Even in this respect Israel is losing the central standing it enjoyed so far.

The undermining of Israel’s geopolitical position makes the coming years very dangerous – there is a real danger that the government will take aggressive measures in a desperate attempt to stop the deterioration of power to which they are used. A possible attack on Iran is only one scenario that illustrates this danger. We might also witness an intensification of internal repression – the anti-democratic laws that were adopted by the Knesset illustrate this trend.

On the other hand, the deepening crisis can convert positions that were regarded marginal to feasible solutions people are ready to hear. To realize this potential, the people that carry these positions should undergo mental change, after they got used for a long time to be a radical minority whose voice is silenced. We should find the proper means to bring those solutions to the general public as a real alternative.

The solution of the one democratic state in Palestine becomes a hot topic for discussion in academic circles and in the media around the world. Pappe described how he, as one of the best known presenters of this alternative, can’t find time any more for all the requested lectures. But what should supporters of this solution do in order to present it as a real alternative to the public? Overcoming the difficulties of cooperation and building a shared vision between the Arab – Palestinian and Jewish components of this movement are an important part of the answer…

The Arab Spring

The lecture focused, as mentioned, on the analysis of the effects of the Arab Spring on the crisis of Zionism. Not much was said about the “gorilla in the middle of the room” – the Arab Spring itself. However, the general approach presented by Pappe regarding the essence of the Arab Spring was clear. This is a democratic process, in which many and diverse political actors take part, and at its center there is a mass movement which generates the change.

He spoke of the need and possibility for cooperation between the secular left – to which he, and most of the audience who came to hear him, belong – and the Islamic movements which are working for democracy. He mentioned as an example the fruitful cooperation that exists in England between the left, which is very secular and liberal regarding social issues, and the Islamic movements.

Answers to questions

In response to questions from the audience, Pappe clarified a number of additional issues:

No. Palestinians could not prevent what was done to them by Zionism. The problem for Zionism was the very existence of the Palestinian Arab inhabitants in the country in which it decided to establish its state, not any specific political position of these residents.

Concerning the integration of the Arab Palestinians who are citizens of Israel in the state – over time this integration becomes less possible due to Israel’s racism and therefore attempts to integrate become less attractive. Pappe asked why Arab parties still participate in the Knesset elections despite the lack of any real ability to influence through the Knesset and despite the benefits that Israel derives from this participation.

Many different political actors take part in the Arab Spring and there is no realistic possibility of one party taking control. Specifically, there is no danger of Islamic extremists taking control of Syria as its government tries to claim in order to gain legitimacy for it continuing control.

In the past the main slogan of the left was “secular democratic state”. Today the main slogan is “one democratic state”. Yes, this is a concession of the secular left. This concession reflects the need, in the conditions of the Arab Spring, to cooperate with Islamic movements in the struggle for democracy. The left should examine critically its own history and the history of the region, remember what was done in the name of the left and on behalf of secularism, and understand the need for flexibility and the central role of democracy in the region’s political agenda in this period.

On the World Refugee Day

We Remind The World

That There Is No Alternative To The Right of Return

Today, 20/6/2012, was the World Refugee Day, a day declared by the United Nations to raise awareness for the plight of millions of refugees around the world.

We, as daughters and sons of the Palestinian people, do not need a special day to remember the refugees. Sixty-four years ago the Zionist gangs with fire and massacres, carried out mass ethnic cleansing, turning the majority of the people of Palestine into refugees. Since then, gradual ethnic cleansing continues without pause. Through policies of Judaization, uprooting Arab Palestinians from their land, building Jewish-exclusive settlements, land confiscation, house demolitions, and the seizure of the lands of the Bedouin Arab in the Naqab desert, ethnic cleansing is perpetuated by the Zionist state.

What we desperately need is to remind the world about the fate of the Palestinian refugees and that there is no alternative to the right of return. We should make it clear that any discussion about “the rights of the refugees” needs to acknowledge their return, without so would contribute to the crime of ethnic cleansing.

The Right of Return is an essential component of Palestinian national rights. This needs to be reaffirmed, since it has been forgotten after 20 years of the fake and senseless “peace process” through which imperialism and Zionism gave legitimacy to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

In the context of the mass democratic movements in the Arab World and the Zionist entity celebrating its sixty four years of existence, the Israeli establishment maintains its racist policies by carrying out persecution against political asylum seekers and migrant workers from Africa. Such racist campaigns are reminiscent to the Zionist persecution of the Palestinian people. In such racist campaigns, writers, thinkers and politicians lead the way with incitement, the police protect the attacking mobs, the courts give them legal legitimacy, whilst innocents are jailed and deported.

We are in solidarity with all victims of racism and with all the victims of Zionist racism in particular.

We remind the world that racism will not be tolerated and we must fight it, in all its forms, everywhere.

There is no return on the right of return!

“Herak Haifa”

Haifa, 20/6/2012

Additional comments by “Free Haifa”:

“Herak” as a form of political organization is a type of “popular committee” that is not representative but is based on volunteer initiative and activity. It became popular as part of the Arab Spring, when all established organizations couldn’t catch up with the events and direct mass action acquired a prominent role in bringing political change.

The word “Herak” (حراك) is a new twist to the Arabic word حركة – movement.

“Herak Haifa” was initiated after the mass Hunger Strike of Palestinian prisoners (17/4 – 14/5/2012), as a result of the experience of “The Popular Initiative for Solidarity with the Freedom Prisoners”. It is still to define its goals and means of struggle. The “world refugee day” press release is its first public declaration.

Pogroms against African refugees in Tel Aviv became a fashion lately, just as a harsh policy of mass detentions and deportations is implemented by the Israeli government, as can be seen from the following links: